South African Journal of Education

Copyright © 2012 EASA

Vol 32:56-68
Educators and the quality of their work environment: an
analysis of the organisational climate in primary schools
D Vos
deonvos@telkomsa.net
Philip C van der Westhuizen
School of Education, Faculty of Education Sciences, North-West University
P J Mentz
School of Education, Faculty of Education Sciences, North-West University
S M Ellis
Statistical Consultation Services, North-West University

The prevalent organisational climate in primary schools in the North West Province
was determined in order to formulate management strategies to increase the or-
ganisational climate. For this purpose, a quantitative research method, founded in
post-positivistic points of departure, was applied. In the process, the Organizational
Climate Description Questionnaire – Rutgers Elementary (OCDQ-RE) was applied
in order to determine the behaviour of principals and school educators. The
investigation indicated that the behaviour of the principals and that of the educators
contributed only to an average degree to the establishment of a more effective orga-
nisational climate in the primary schools investigated. Furthermore the exploratory
and confirmatory factor analyses indicated that certain items in the original climate
questionnaire, which were grouped in the directive behaviour of the principal, were
viewed by the respondents in South Africa as supportive but, in some instances, also
as restrictive.

Keywords: educational environment; effective schools; improving organisational

climate; improving school climate; management styles; Organizational Climate
Description Questionnaire (OCDQ); organisational climate; primary schools; school
climate; teacher morale and attitudes

Introduction
There is concern in educational ranks pertaining to the organisational climate in schools in the
North West Province of South Africa (Vos, 2005:127-132; Jackson & Rothman, 2006:1-5; Van
der Westhuizen, 2006:1-3; North West Department of Education, 2006:89). For example, there
is evidence that the morale of educators in schools is low (Imants & Van Zoelen, 1995:77-85;
Mentz, 2007:146-153). Regular strikes by educators could possibly also be proof of the ne-
gative experience of a school’s organisational climate (Zigarmi & Sinclair, 2001:270-278).
In research performed on the wellbeing of South African educators, it was found that
educators did not experience their work places as positive, and therefore experienced a nega-
tive organisational climate (Jackson & Rothmann, 2006:75-95). Jackson and Rothmann (2006)
recommend that principals should, among their other concerns, pay more attention to the
psychological wellbeing of educators as well as to reducing their workload. To determine how
 South African Journal of Education, Volume 32(1), February 2012 57

educators currently experience the quality of their work life and organisational climate is
therefore a research imperative. According to Hoy et al. (1991:33, 55, 160-163), the principal’s
behaviour as well as the educators’ experience of their work environment are determinants of
the organisational climate of the school. In the Report of the Task Team on Education Develop-
ment (Department of Education, 1996:64), reference is made to: “A whole new way of doing
business: education management must be more supportive than directive”. Also pertaining to
Total Quality Management, emphasis is placed on the principal’s task with regard to aspects
such as “develop a supportive and empowering environment; caring; empowering” (De Bruyn
& Van der Westhuizen, 2007:289-335).
An ineffective or ‘unhealthy’ organisational climate in a school can lead to a collapse in
school activities and could in the end cause a school to become dysfunctional. Determination
of a school’s organisational climate and formulation of management strategies in order to
establish a more effective organisational climate is therefore of critical importance for the
educational leader, in this case, the principal.
The research reported here was aimed at answering the question: How do primary school
teachers experience the organizational climate in their schools? As a report on the research
findings, the rest of the article is structured as follows: Firstly, the concepts school climate and
organisational climate are defined and placed in context so that they are not confused with
other concepts that also describe the quality of the work life within the school as organisation.
Then follows a discussion of the determinants of organisational climate, as determined from
the literature and this is followed by a discussion of the empirical research design, including
the research method that was followed. Several important findings are then stated and dis-
cussed, followed by an overview of some management strategies that may flow from the latter.
The article concludes with recommendations, aimed at improvement of the organisational
climate of primary schools, and a final conclusion.

Theoretical foundation
In the next section, school climate is placed in context with reference to the involvement and
influence that organisational climate and educational climate may have on school climate.
Thereafter, organisational climate is placed in context by indicating how certain aspects
influence the organisational climate of a school. The latter aspects include the following: quali-
ty of work life, organisational health and organisational culture.

School climate in context

There is a relationship between school climate and the organisational climate of a school (i.c.
primary school) (Mentz, 2007:147-160). School climate is an over-arching description of the
climate in the school as organisation. There are other aspects within the school climate that also
show relationships with one another.
The following is a brief description of the most important aspects of school climate men-
tioned above:
School climate is the experience by the educators of their work environment as well as
that of the learners of their learning environment, both inside and outside the classroom
(Mentz, 2007:147-148; Hoy & Miskel, 2008:185). Organisational climate, on the other hand,
more specifically has to do with the common experience by educators of the quality of their
work environment in the school where they work (Mentz, 2007:157-160). Educational climate,
in turn, has to do with the experience of learners of their total educational milieu in the school,
58 South African Journal of Education, Volume 32(1), February 2012

as well as outside the classroom (Kieft, 2005:49-83; Moller et al., 2005:585-592). Classroom
climate also relates to the realisation of learners, but describes more specifically the atmos-
phere wherein interaction between themselves and the educator takes place. This realisation
or experience is influenced by factors that are controlled by the educator, and this consequently
differs from classroom to classroom (Brucato, 2005; Van der Westhuizen et al., 2005:89-105).
From this brief description of important organisational climate elements, one can deduce
that organisational climate is not an isolated concept, but relates to several other influences in
the organisation.

Organisational climate in context

A number of aspects that influence the organisational climate(the experience by educators of
the quality of their work environment) of a school may also influence the quality of work life
in a school. These aspects can be divided into two main categories, namely, the systemic and
the personal or individual factors (Van der Westhuizen & Mentz, 2007:66-80). The systemic
factors encompass, among other things, organisational culture and organisational health, while
the individual or personal factors include, among others, job motivation, job satisfaction, work
stress and work performance (Van der Westhuizen & Mentz, 2007:66-80).
In the investigation under discussion, the emphasis was on organisational climate as deter-
minant of the quality of work life in a school. The inter-weavement of the systemic factors and
the individual factors referred to above will be discussed next. Accordingly, note is taken of
the influence of the quality of work life on organisational climate, on organisational health,
also the influence of some systemic factors on organisational climate, and lastly, the influence
of the individual factors on organisational climate.
The quality of work life of the educators is influenced by, among other things, their physi-
cal, psychological and social well-being in the school as organisation. Quality of work life
therefore has an influence on the organisational climate of the school (Cilliers & Kossuth,
2002:8-11; Patterson et al., 2004:3-10). Organisational health similarly has an influence on
the organisational climate of a school. More than three decades ago Miles (1963:378) had al-
ready pointed out that there were three criteria against which an effective organization should
be measured, viz:
• The task requirement: those involved understand the aims and objectives of the organi-
zation and accept them as feasible and practicable. Effective communication ensures that
all interested parties are on top of the progress made in order to ensure that the aims are
realized. Authority is divided by giving autonomy to those in positions of authority.
• The maintenance requirement: educators are not snowed under by work, but are applied
where needed and as required. Personnel want to be part of the organization and a feeling
of general contentment is the result.
• The development requirement: problems are solved, using the minimum of energy. New
procedures are incorporated on an on-going basis in order to achieve new objectives, and
where development are not satisfactory, adjustments are made. The organization acts
pro-actively within the community and is not totally dependent on the community.
Two years prior to the above investigation, Parsons (1967:41-45) pointed out three levels
within an organization, viz:
• The technical level: at this level educators are responsible for the effectual education and
instruction of learners.
• The management level: the principal is responsible for effectively running the school.
 South African Journal of Education, Volume 32(1), February 2012 59

This includes motivation of teachers, satisfying their professional needs, and gaining their
confidence and loyalty.
• The organizational level: at this level the organization is reconciled with its environment.
The trust of the community in the organization will encourage the support of all parties
interested in the school.
When comparing the models of the two investigators, it becomes evident that three require-
ments within an organization (technical, management, and organization) figure in both. These
three requirements exert an influence on the wellbeing of the organization and thus also on the
organizational climate.
The above points of view are upheld by Hoy et al. (1987:30-37) and Hoy et al. (1991:
88-106), and also more recently, by Mentz (2007:171-179). All contend that there are still three
different needs and levels of functioning within an organization which in turn influence the
organizational climate.
Mentz (2007:151) adds two more criteria of a healthy organization, viz:
• external interrupting influences (e.g. socio-economic influences) which should be
eliminated, and
• the organization should function within its aims and objectives.
Taking the above into account, an organization could be described as follows: the task, main-
tenance and developmental requirements are necessary for the healthy functioning of an orga-
nization in order to reach its aims and objectives on three levels (technical, management and
organization) within the organization.
Since organisational climate and organisational culture are inter-related, systemic factors
in an organisation are viewed as determinants of organisational climate. These factors consist
of those intangible and tangible aspects that have an influence on the organisational culture of
the school and eventually also on the organisational climate of the school. The intangible as-
pects entail, among others (Swanepoel, 2003:46-50; Janson & Xaba, 2007:128-131), religious
aspects, beliefs, philosophies, the vision, mission and ethos of the school, suppositions, norms
and values. The tangible aspects include, among others (Wong & Ho-Ming, 2003:35-53;
Janson & Xaba, 2007:132-137), verbal, behavioural and visual manifestations of persons and
practices in the school.
Individual factors that have an influence on the organisational climate of a school include
the following (Colangelo, 2004:1-5; Kieft, 2005:12-33; Group Risk Development (GRID),
2010:1-5):
• Job satisfaction: a combination of physiological and environmental aspects combined in
an employee with regard to the quality of the work place which is also influenced by,
among other things, the management style of the leader or principal.
• Work performance: The quality of the work that employees deliver at a specific time, as
well as the degree of effectiveness with which objectives are reached.
• Job motivation: The driving force, disposition and energy with which employees approach
their tasks to effectively reach the organisation’s objectives which are largely determined
by the intrinsic and extrinsic factors in the organisation.
• Work stress: Work stress occurs when a person’s emotions are expressed through irri-
tation, frustration and aggression when he/she has to perform a task and experiences the
work place as negative.

Determinants of organisational climate: a few theoretical perspectives

Most experts’ descriptions of determinants of an organisational climate are determined by the
60 South African Journal of Education, Volume 32(1), February 2012

different role-players in the organisation and therefore these descriptions are mostly in accor-
dance with each other. From descriptions of the determinants of the organisational climate, two
factors especially come to the fore. The first is the behaviour of the leaders in the school. The
behaviour of especially the principal has an influence on the manner in which personnel ex-
perience him/her and his/her management style. His/her actions influence their view of the
work environment. The manner in which the principal handles the management tasks or
functions of the school influences how the personnel experience the activities in the school and
can therefore influence the work atmosphere in the school. The second factor is the behaviour
of the personnel. The general dispositions with which the personnel perform their tasks and
their acceptance of the leadership of the school have an influence on the view of personnel
pertaining to their work environment. The personnel, therefore, also contribute to the esta-
blishment of a specific organisational climate in the school. Several needs of the personnel
should be met in order for a positive disposition to be fostered. The degree of need satisfaction
has an influence on the organisational climate of the school and as such is seen as a deter-
minant of the organisational climate in the specific school (Hoy et al., 1991:33; Hoy & Tarter,
1997:15-29).

Determinants of organisational climate: methodological perspectives

Most measuring instruments find that there are mainly two main determinants of organisational
climate, namely, the behaviour of the principal and the behaviour of the educators (Hoy &
Tarter, 1997:15-29; Cilliers & Kossuth, 2002:8-11). The behaviour of these two sets of role-
players are influenced by a number of sub-factors that can be found both inside and outside the
organisation, and include environmental factors, the community, expected standards of parents
and learners, interference by other role-players, personalities, infrastructure, available resources
and safety (Hoy & Tarter, 1997:15-29).
Against the background of the preceding conceptual and theoretical discussion, an empi-
rical investigation was launched to determine the state of organisational climate in a sample
of primary schools, and to determine how its effectiveness can be improved.

Empirical investigation
Research design
A quantitative research design, contextualised by a post-positivistic investigative approach, was
applied. As can be seen from the discussion of the post-positivistic approach below, the speci-
fic approach makes it possible for this research to make meaningful and statistically justifiable
analyses, conclusions and generalisations (Maree & Pietersen, 2008:47-153; McMillan, 2008:
33-50; Creswell, 2009:145-171).
The post-positivistic approach is sometimes also typified as logical empiricism or viewed
as a synonym for post-empiricism (Schwandt, 2001:203; Denzin & Lincoln, 2005:143, 193-
199). This approach makes provision for the fact that knowledge that has been obtained by the
persons involved in the research is formulated and therefore influenced. Factors such as
culture, political trends, social status, religion and value systems can influence the views of
individuals from whom the knowledge was obtained (Niglas, 2001:1-5; Dancy, 2006:1-7; Ma-
ree & Pietersen, 2008:47-153).
The use of a structured questionnaire, such as used in this research, makes it possible to
analyse and verify the facts. This epistemological approach within the framework of the post-
positivistic paradigm offers the researcher the opportunity to prove the points of reference and
 South African Journal of Education, Volume 32(1), February 2012 61

the knowledge obtained based on the facts obtained during the research (Maree & Pietersen,
2008:47-153; McMillan, 2008:33-50; Creswell, 2009:6-171).

Purpose of the investigation

The purpose of the investigation was to empirically determine the nature of the different deter-
minants of the organisational climate in a sample of primary schools; secondly, to analyse the
current state of the organisational climate in primary schools in North West primary schools;
and lastly, to formulate management strategies in order to ensure an effective organisational
climate.

Study population
The study population consisted of educators in job levels one and two from a random selection
of 80 primary schools (n = 80) from the 472 primary schools with more than 400 learners each,
distributed in the four districts of the North West Province of South Africa. Due to the fact that
the province is divided into four districts, we decided to select schools from each district, to
be able to get a reasonably clear picture of what the reality in the province is. Eighteen (n =
18) were selected from the Ngaka Modiri Molema District, 22 (n = 22) from the Dr Kenneth
Kaunda District and 20 schools each from the Bojanala and the Dr Ruth Segomotsi Districts.
From the 80 selected schools, 66 responded with 904 respondents. The reason we could only
get information back from 66 schools was logistical reasons. This means that 82.5% of the
selected schools provided feedback. We delivered the questionnaires to the head office of each
district and explained the importance of the completion of the questionnaires. After three
weeks we collected the completed questionnaires at the same offices. The officials were posi-
tive and helpful with distributing and collecting the questionnaires.

Measuring instrument
The Organizational Climate Description Questionnaire – Rutgers Elementary (OCDQ – RE)
questionnaire was designed to reflect 10 different types of socio-economic categories in New
Jersey in the United States of America. These categories occurred in both rural and urban areas.
The characteristics (different socio-economic categories and different demographic fields) of
the OCDQ-RE questionnaire form a favourable point of departure for a questionnaire that
could be used in primary schools in South Africa, because the composition of the South Afri-
can primary schools also displays these two aspects, to a large degree. For this reason, Pretorius
and De Villiers (2009:33-52) used the OCDQ-RE along with the Organizational Health Index
for Primary Schools (OHI-E) as measuring instruments in the southern Cape (South Africa).
The first division of the questionnaire (OCDQ-RE) consists of eight items pertaining to the
general information of the respondents. The next division consists of 42 items. The latter items
are divided into two groupings that, respectively, investigate the behaviour of the principal and
that of the educators. The behaviour of the principal is divided into three concepts, namely:
supportive behaviour (9 items), directive behaviour (9 items), and restrictive behaviour (5
items). The behaviour of the educators is also divided into three concepts: collegial behaviour
(8 items), intimate behaviour (7 items), and disengaged behaviour (4 items). Opportunity is
also provided for respondents to add items/comments that do not appear in the structured
questionnaire (Hoy & Tarter, 1997:15-30).

Pilot study
A pilot study was conducted in an Afrikaans and an English/Setswana medium school. The
62 South African Journal of Education, Volume 32(1), February 2012

respondents were requested to make notes on the questionnaires if the questions were unclear
or difficult to interpret to determine whether the items were correctly interpreted by the res-
pondents. No corrections were required.

Reliability aspects
The reliability of the data was determined by means of Cronbach alpha coefficient values and
Inter-item correlation values (Maree & Pietersen, 2008:47-153; McMillan, 2008:33-50; Cres-
well, 2009:145-171; Onwuegbuzie et al., 2009:30-37). Most of the Cronbach alpha coefficients
were higher than 0.5 and the inter-item correlation values were between 0.194 and 0.440,
indicating that most of the above factors of the measuring instrument were reliable.

Ethical aspects
Written permission was obtained from Kottkamp (Kottkamp, 2008) and Hoy (Hoy, 2008) to
use the OCDQ-RE questionnaire in the South African context. The Ethics Committee of the
university, under whose auspices the research was done, approved the project. Written permis-
sion was obtained from the Area project manager of Matlosana to distribute the questionnaires
to two schools in the Matlosana District for the pilot study. Written permission was further
obtained from the Superintendent-General of the North West Department of Education to
distribute the questionnaire in primary schools in the North West Province. Assurance was
given to the respondents that the information would be treated confidentially and that their
anonymity was guaranteed. Respondents were under no obligation to complete the question-
naire.

Statistical processing methods

The following processes and calculations were performed by making use of SPSS (SPSS Inc.,
2009): descriptive statistics of biographic information and individual questions, factor analysis
and structural equation models, Cronbach alpha coefficient and inter-item correlations (Hoy
& Tarter, 1997:15-29), t tests, ANOVAs, and practical significance of differences.
An exploratory principal component factor analysis with Oblimin rotation was performed
on the data in order to determine how the items grouped as factors. According to Kaiser’s
criteria, nine factors were identified which explained 53.8% of the variance. The percentage
of each item’s variance explained (communalities) was greater than 0.3 for all items. The
Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure of 0.92 indicated that enough data were obtained to identify the
factors.
The factor analysis indicated an important deviance from the findings for the USA in the
OCDQ-RE, when it was found that the directive behaviour of the principal consisted of two
factors for the South African data. The first factor correlated positively (r = 0.78) with
supportive behaviour of the principal, which indicates that certain actions of the principal, e.g.
the principal checks lesson plans and closely supervises educators, were experienced as sup-
portive rather than directive by personnel. The second factor negatively correlated with the first
and consisted of the two items: the principal is autocratic and the principal rules with an iron
fist. The second factor of the directive behaviour of the principal correlated positively (corre-
lation value: 0.43) with the restrictive behaviour of the principal. Such a division of the
directive behaviour of the principal is a unique finding in the South African context and does
not tie in with findings of the American research (Hoy et al., 1991:167-169).
By means of a confirmatory factor analysis in a structural equation model (SEM), it was
 South African Journal of Education, Volume 32(1), February 2012 63

determined whether the standardised regression coefficients of the factors differed for different
cultural groups. No significant differences were found, however.
The effect size (Cohen’s d value) indicates whether differences that occur in the popu-
lation can be seen as practically significant. Seeing that the study population was very large,
it is easy to obtain statistical significance (p value), so that practical significance is more appli-
cable (Ellis & Steyn, 2003:51-53).
Standard scores for each person were calculated as follows for all the indices:

S = 100 * (Index – Mean of index) / Standard deviation of index + 500

These standard scores have a mean of 500 and a standard deviation of 100 for the norm
population. This makes it possible to measure a specific school’s results with regard to the
norm of 500. The openness indices of the principal and the educators were calculated as
follows (Hoy et al., 1991:167):

Principal Open:
This is an adaptation of Hoy et al.’s (1991:167) formula for purposes of the North West Pro-
vince’s population pertaining to the factor analysis results. Directive behaviour was divided
into two factors based on the exploratory factor analysis’s results, and the openness index was
adjusted according to the following formula:

Principal Openness = [(S Principal Supportive behaviour) + (S Principal Directive behaviour 1)

+ (1000 – S Principal Directive behaviour 2) + (1000 – S Principal of Restrictive behaviour)] / 4

Educator Openness = [(S Educator Collegial behaviour) + (S Educator Intimate behaviour) +

(1000 – S Educator Disengaged behaviour)] / 3 (As prescribed in the OCDQ-RE)

Total: Principal-openness + Educator-openness (As prescribed in the OCDQ-RE)

Table 1 Means and standard deviations of RSA norm population for

use of standard scores calculation
Index Mean SD

Principal Supportive 24.13 7.03

Principal Directive 22.91 5.31
Principal Directive (autocratic) 3.71 1.82
Principal Directive (supportive) 19.30 5.09
Principal Restrictive 12.01 3.47
Educator Collegial 23.07 4.6
Educator disengaged 7.17 2.64
Educator intimate 15.94 4.11

The means of the three types of behaviour of the principal, and the three types of be-
haviour of the educators are given in Table 1. Any school in South Africa can make use of
these results and the above formulas to determine the openness of their school as compared to
the RSA norm population’s values of 500 (Hoy et al., 1991:169).
64 South African Journal of Education, Volume 32(1), February 2012

The means of the openness index of the organisational climate for the RSA norm popu-
lation were also calculated and compared to the American norm population (Hoy et al., 1991:
169).

Findings
Openness indices of North West norm population compared to the American norm
population
Principal: Supportive behaviour
With a score of 502.93, it places the supportive behaviour of principals, as experienced by the
respondents, in the category where the respondents experienced the support from their prin-
cipals as average. From this one can argue that principals are challenged to act more sup-
portively towards the educators in order to establish a positive organisational climate.

Principal: Directive behaviour

The respondents experienced the directive behaviour of the principals as high (599.82). From
this one can deduce that the principals in the study population were experienced as utterly
directive. However, one has to note that the South African educators experienced most of the
directive-grouped behaviour as positive, and not as negative. In this regard one should, how-
ever, remember that most of the items in directive behaviour were viewed as supportive beha-
viour by the NW respondents. This makes it difficult to compare this factor to the American
values.

Principal: Restrictive behaviour

The respondents were of the opinion that principals were categorised low (444.18) when it
came to restrictive behaviour. From this can be deduced that, in general, principals mostly did
not display restrictive behaviour.

Principal: Open
The respondents experienced principals’ openness when they acted as average (498.69). In this
case, principals would again have to accept the challenge to be more ‘open’.

Educator: Collegial behaviour

A score of 488.87 indicates that the respondents experienced the collegial behaviour of their
colleagues as below average. The degree to which colleagues showed collegiality towards each
other needs some attention.

Educator: Intimate behaviour

The respondents labelled the intimate behaviour of their colleagues as low (429.74). The latter
factor, as with the other factors, is a very important determinant for the establishment of a
positive organisational climate in the school and will therefore require attention.

Educator: Disengaged behaviour

With a score of 517.40, the respondents indicated that they experienced the uninvolvement of
their colleagues as above average. Colleagues’ involvement with the school’s activities is of
cardinal importance for the establishment of a positive organisational climate in a school and
will also require considerable attention.
 South African Journal of Education, Volume 32(1), February 2012 65

Educator: Open
The respondents experienced the openness with which their colleagues acted as average
(496.33). From this, one can also deduce that there is room for improvement with regard to the
degree to which educators appear to be ‘open’.

Categorisation
The schools (n = 66) were categorised in the four categories of organisational climate, namely:
Open, Closed, Engaged and Disengaged organisational climate.

Table 2 Categories of organisational climate

Categories Schools (N) Percentage (%)

Disengaged climate 15 22.73

Closed climate 15 22.73
Open climate 14 21.21
Engaged climate 22 33.33

Total 66 100.00

Table 2 indicates that a disengaged and closed climate prevailed in nearly half the schools
in the study population. Only 14 schools in the study population could be categorised as
schools with the desired open organisational climate. The number of schools with an engaged
organisational climate was also in the minority; only 22 schools could be placed in this
category. One should, however, take note of the fact that not all the characteristics of an
engaged organisational climate are acceptable. The following characteristics are undesired
characteristics of an engaged organisational climate: the principal acts autocratically, the
principal overloads educators with unnecessary work, educators do not heed the principal’s
control measures and the principal applies unsuccessful attempts to provide leadership. One
can, therefore, not assume that an engaged organisational climate is necessarily the most desi-
rable organisational climate for a school.

Recommendations
The following critical factors that occurred at the different constructs require further attention
and need to be improved in order to establish a more effective organisational climate in pri-
mary schools.

Behaviour of the principal (some critical factors)

Supportive behaviour: The degree, to which the principal applies constructive criticism, pro-
vides reasons for criticism and looks after the well-being of educators.
The following suggestions can be applied to address the above critical factors: The
principal should consider the general interests of the educators by conversing at least once
every term during a communication period with each educator and taking note of each one’s
interests. The conversations should take place when decisions are made. Educators should be
praised by the principal during hall openings and parent nights for the good work that they do.
66 South African Journal of Education, Volume 32(1), February 2012

When the principal criticises, it should be constructive. Criticism should be discussed before-
hand with the management committee of the school. It should be thoroughly thought through,
and it could even be noted in the minutes of the meeting. Principals should respect and
acknowledge the professional competencies of educators by delegating certain tasks to them,
thereby recognising the autonomy to the educator.
Directive behaviour (grouped with supportive): The principal goes over the register on
a daily basis and reminds personnel to sign it, the principal schedules work for the educators,
etc.
The following suggestions could be applied to address the above critical factors: Edu-
cators should work according to policy and do their lesson planning, and the principal should
only exercise control over it once a month. Educators should fill in the register every day so
that it would not be necessary for the principal to verify it every day and remind educators to
sign it. Educators should limit mistakes to the minimum so that it would not be necessary for
the principal to continually rectify mistakes. Mistakes that have to be rectified by the principal
should be recorded, so that control can be exercised. Educators should accept ownership and
responsibility for that which takes place in the classroom, so that it would not be necessary for
the principal to exercise control over every event in the classroom. Control over events in the
classroom should be exercised by the subject heads so that they can report back to the
principal.
Directive behaviour (grouped with autocratic behaviour): Principals who follow an auto-
cratic management style and manage schools with an “iron fist” display this behaviour.
The following suggestions could be applied to address the above critical factors: Prin-
cipals should follow alternative management styles that are not experienced as autocratic.
Principals who follow the so-called “iron fist” approach with regard to the general management
of the school should cease to do so or should apply it sensibly in accordance with the demands
of the situation.
Restrictive behaviour: Educators have too many committee obligations, and administrative
work is a burden at the school.
The following suggestions could be applied to address the above critical factors: Prin-
cipals should not burden educators with unnecessary challenges, such as unnecessary paper
work and administrative work. Assignments should be recorded and verified on a weekly basis.
Principals should not force educators to serve on every committee.

Behaviour of the educators (Critical factors)

Collegial behaviour: Educators do not accept other colleagues’ shortcomings, leave for home
directly after school hours and socialise in small select groups.
The following suggestions could be applied to address the above critical factors: Edu-
cators should support one another openly on both professional and personal level and should
also foster a sense of pride towards their school. Educators should be discouraged to leave the
school directly after school hours; work should be completed first and colleagues ought to first
help one another. Professional interaction and socialising should be encouraged so that they
can work together happily and enthusiastically. Educators should accept one another — in-
cluding the other’s shortcomings.
Intimate behaviour: Colleagues do not invite each other for visits at home, are not familiar
with the others’ family backgrounds, enjoy socialising in work time and do not organise social
events for one another.
 South African Journal of Education, Volume 32(1), February 2012 67

The following suggestions could be applied to address the above critical factors: Social
interactions should be encouraged among educators and social skills should be learnt during
these interactions. Mutual support among educators and friendship bonds should be encou-
raged. A feeling of togetherness and unanimity among educators should be fostered during
teamwork and staff functions.
Disengaged behaviour: Staff meetings are viewed as useless, educators pressure those
who do not wish to join the majority and there is a minority group of educators who always go
against the majority group.
The following suggestions could be applied to address the above critical factors: The
educators’ involvement and cooperation in school activities should be set as a requisite in order
to reach common objectives. Negative or destructive actions, comments and negative criticism
should not be tolerated. The importance of staff meetings should be emphasised and the beha-
viour of, for example, small groups of educators who undermine and oppose the decisions of
the majority, should be eliminated. Negative group pressure should be eliminated and un-
acceptable behaviour, such as chatting during meetings should be stopped.

Concluding remarks
The behaviour of principals as well as educators, according to this investigation, did not con-
tribute positively towards the development and establishment of an effective organisational
climate in this particular sample of primary schools of the North West Province. The total
openness indices of the behaviour of principals as well as of educators were only average,
thereby indicating that teachers in this investigation did not experience the organizational
climate in their schools as sufficiently positive for creating an environment conducive to
teaching and learning. These findings furthermore suggest that the total openness index of the
schools can only be described as average. As mentioned in the introduction, a measuring
instrument specifically validated for the South African context and schools could possibly shed
more light on these findings as well as help to bring about an effective organisational climate
in primary schools in this country.

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